Bonitas raises contributions by 8.7% as new service model takes shape
Four months after a troubled administrator switch, Bonitas is betting on new products, tighter managed care, and a stronger digital offering to rebuild member value and trust.
Healthcare
Discovery Health’s 2027 plans: 8.2% average increase and a new option
Two out of three beneficiaries will face increases below 8%, while Discovery is adding a new lower-cost plan and expanding its personalised health platform.
Medihelp sets 7.5% weighted average increase for 2027
Most members will face increases of 7% or less, while the scheme is adding benefits in mental health, maternity, preventive care, and emergency treatment.
Global medical cost growth is cooling. Why isn’t South Africa’s?
Global medical cost growth is easing, but South Africa’s rate remains high – putting medical schemes under pressure to balance rising healthcare costs with affordability in 2027.
GEMS faces scrutiny over costs, governance, and reserves
Parliamentary questions extend from fraud and outsourcing to trustee remuneration and benefit design, while the scheme’s reserves remain below the statutory requirement.
Bonitas defends administrator switch after record financial results
Executives acknowledged the disruption caused by the June administrator switch while insisting the scheme’s long-term strategy remains on track.
When it’s your money, who should decide?
As employers hand more responsibility for retirement and healthcare benefits to staff, the industry is rethinking how to balance freedom with better financial decisions.
CMS explains why it rejected GEMS’s bid to lower contribution increase
The CMS argues that a 7.5% increase would have weakened GEMS’s financial sustainability and shifted costs to members in future.
The next frontier for employee benefits is integration
Sanlam’s Benchmark report argues that improving member outcomes increasingly depends on linking financial advice, healthcare, and risk benefits.
Mental health is reshaping the chronic disease equation
New findings suggest emotional well-being now plays a growing role in whether patients with diabetes, cancer, and heart disease stay stable and out of hospital.
The 11-year health gap: what adds – or costs – years of life
Discovery Health’s analysis of 2.7 million medical scheme members shows how earlier intervention, better treatment, and healthier lifestyles are reshaping life expectancy.
Medscheme rejects Bonitas’s explanation for post-transition disruptions
Medscheme says it repeatedly warned Bonitas against a ‘clean-cut’ transition and disputes the scheme’s claim that unresolved legacy issues were behind the service disruptions experienced by members after the administration switch.
Not just inflation: the demographic shift driving medical scheme hikes
Shrinking younger membership is intensifying an ageing risk pool, pushing contributions higher even when hospital use is flat.
Bonitas move: Momentum Health sets out the operational playbook
From broker commissions to digital channels and claims processing, Momentum Health has set out what stakeholders can expect when Bonitas changes administrators.
Investment performance drives PPS member payouts to record levels
The mutual insurer reports R5.56bn in investment returns compared with R1.32bn in operating profit, while higher claims put pressure on underwriting performance.
Sizwe Hosmed: High Court blocks board comeback, new curator installed
The CMS frames the judgment as necessary to protect members, emphasising the scheme is compliant, operational and under close oversight.
New HPCSA rules put patients’ voices first in life-and-death decisions
Updated ethical guidelines give South Africans clearer control over end-of-life choices and tighten safeguards around the use of AI in healthcare.
